Physical Theatre - Whats The Show

A Bold, Witty, and Unflinchingly Honest Exploration of the Human Psyche in Musical Form

14/04/2026 Aunty Kylie xo

Initial Consult: Taking diet culture to therapy Rating

★★★★★

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Charlotte Grimmer’s Initial Consult- Taking diet culture to therapy (2026 MICF) at The MC Showroom is a bold, witty, and unflinchingly honest exploration of the human psyche. Grimmer is a graduate of NIDA Acting program, a high school dance and drama teacher. Charlotte has performed this show in Edinburgh, Sydney and the Adelaide Fringe Festival.

Bursting straight through the waiting room, Charlotte Grimmer’s initial court-mandated therapy session begins-and we, the audience find ourselves cast as the therapist. This fresh and fearless musical invites us into a hilariously triggering session filled with tap, rap, dance, and masterful keyboards. Grimmer’s performance showcases her diverse vocals, sharp wit and impressive comedic skillset.

The shows engaging narrative grapples with mental health, diet culture, perfectionism and the messy nuances of how we cope. Charlotte works the packed audience brilliantly- making pointed uncomfortable and knowing eye contact with every “therapist” in the room in moments that are at once awkward, hilarious, and deeply relatable. One moment the audience squirms, triggered and defensive: the next, they erupt with applause and laughter.

The stage is set with minimalist flair: a chair, a keyboard, and a side table adorned with tissues, a plant, and a pot. By the end of the performance, it resembles the floor of a teenager’s bedroom. Each prop is purposefully placed and thoughtfully used. Grimmer’s inventive excellence is evident in every detail—every movement, and exaggerated facial expression, and lyric is meticulously placed—creating a remarkably clever and cohesive piece highlighting Grimmer’s inventive flair and keen attention to detail.

Sadly, Melbourne, Charlotte Grimmer has wrapped up her season and is heading back to Queensland. The MC Showroom is conveniently located near plenty of pubs and dining options and has a licensed bar for enjoying a drink during the performance —ideal for steadying one’s nerves before this funny therapeutic ride. Patrons should note that accessibility is limited, with 25 stairs and no all-access bathroom.

In a thoughtful touch, Grimmer acknowledges the show’s potentially triggering themes, directing audience members towards support organisations such as The Butterfly Foundation. This thought-provoking and playfully disarming performance will follow you home.

Deliciously daring, Initial Consult- Taking diet culture to therapy (2026 MICF) is the kind of performance that makes you laugh, wince, and reflect—sometimes all in the same breath. Side effects may include sore cheeks from smiling and the sudden urge to book a therapy session… or a tap class.

Love Aunty Kylie xo

To book tickets to Initial Consult: Taking diet culture to therapy, please visit https://www.themcshowroom.com/whatson/melbourne-international-comedy-festival-2026-initial-consult.

Photographer: Joel Devereux

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The Irreducible

14/04/2026 Oscar Bray🥉

The Irreducible Rating

★★★★★

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After The Irreducible’s curtain call, I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the only one who stayed seated for a few more minutes, processing what on earth (or beyond it) I’d just watched. The promotional images – a contorted androgynous figure dripping in goo and digital warping – convey more of what the show is than anything I could describe. It’s fifty minutes of…that. And somehow, so much more.

The Irreducible is the brainchild of Cohan, creative director of Blank Space Productions and the show’s director, set designer and sole performer. From the moment the audience walks in, Cohan is surrounded by precarious black beams bathed in green light, some of which support bags and vats of transparent goo. In the best way possible, it looks like the set of an Alien knockoff. Cohan, naked except for a full-face balaclava and a large triangular boot on one foot, explores the space. Without dialogue, context, or even facial expressions for most of the show, what we are left with is an androgynous body navigating a familiarly alien world.

Cohan’s prowess as a physical performer is undeniable; their confidence in climbing the set and the variety in their movements is marvellous to behold. There is also a loose sense of storytelling as we see their creature gradually gain mastery over their environment and unveil more unexpected surprises in the set. There was a sense at some points of the creature moving to hit their marks rather than ending up naturally in certain spots, and the ending felt contrived to get Cohan offstage, but this wasn’t enough to break the methodical pacing. The worldbuilding is complemented by fantastic tech design, with a jarringly glitchy surround-sound score, beautiful use of lighting and the wonderful effect of projections on Cohan’s pale naked skin. The Irreducible may be strange and slow-paced, but it’s never boring, and the climax is well-worth the subtle build-up (hint: a lot of goo is involved).

But what’s the point of it all? The queerness is undeniable, as the show revolves around a nude non-binary body and many set pieces and moments could be seen as an homage to camp low-budget horror. Theatre Works bills The Irreducible as “[an investigation of] the boundaries between the queer body, the self and object”, and there’s definitely a thrilling contrast between the natural nudity and movements of the central character and the industrial environment it finds itself in. I was personally reminded of the many connections scholars and artists have made between queerness and body horror, as those who feel alienated from their bodies choose to embrace what society deems as monstrous. Once Cohan’s face becomes visible, there is a sublime ecstasy in their expressions that feels both frightening and enticing. The show is called ‘The Irreducible’, which provokes the question: what parts of our experiences can’t be reduced? The body? The self? Feelings of alienation? The world around us? Perhaps all of the above, or anything else you can think of.

Regardless of what you take from it, The Irreducible is a thematically rich show with a lot to admire if not fear. It’s one of those artworks that’s something of a Rorschach test: what you see in it and how you respond may say more about you than the performance itself. All I can say is what I saw, which was an arresting celebration of queer monstrosity. Come for the spectacle, stay for the depth, and take as much time as you need to sit with it all afterwards.

To book tickets to The Irreducible, please visit https://www.theatreworks.org.au/2026/the-irreducible.

Photographer: Dan Rabin

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Till the Stars Come Down

04/04/2026 Linda Lokhee🏆🥇🦉

Till the Stars Come Down Rating

★★★★★

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If you’ve ever been lucky enough to have had a ‘perfect moment’ where you wanted to freeze time, to bathe in pure happiness, you will be able to relate to Sylvia in Till the Stars Come Down. In contrast, the feeling of wanting to stay, for fear of what may happen next, may also be relatable. These poles of emotion are strong, and it is in the myriad of this and everything in between, that becomes a tightrope linking a family together.

Directed by Anthony Skuse, and currently performing at KTX on Broadway, Till the Stars Come Down is a play about the complexities of family, grief, loyalties and love. Set in the deindustrialised working-class town Mansfield in the UK, the play takes place over the course of one day.

After a whirlwind romance, Sylvia (Imogen Sage) is marrying Polish immigrant Marek (Zoran Jevtik). Sylvia is one of a trio of sisters, and although each have very different personalities, they appear to be close. There’s a beautifully intimate scene where the sisters are lying on the floor, heads together and chatting, reminding me of either the innocence of making snow angels, or representative of the three of them combining to make a single star. I thought that maybe this was a subtle nod to the play’s title.

Hazel, (played with highly strung perfection by Ainsley McGlynn) is stuck in a job she finds boring, in a marriage where she feels unseen and consequently has a rather sharp tongue which seemed to be frequently aimed at her sister Maggie (Jane Angharad). Hedonistic and quadrupled married (twice to the same man, does that count as four times? “I only married him because he looked at me like I was a potato in a famine.”) lives elsewhere and had left Mansfield abruptly leading to the other sisters feeling somewhat abandoned. Angharad’s portrayal of Maggie was layered, and her lack of self-esteem as well as her desperate confusion in some parts of the play was admirable. Sage’s portrayal of bride Sylvia was sweet. She feels some guilt about moving out of home, having been a companion and career for her widowed father Tony (Peter Eyres).

The first half of the play is female led, and in the opening scene we are introduced to Sylvia’s living room by Hazel’s youngest daughter Sarah (Kira McLennon) zooming onto the stage, laughing with girlish innocence, and playing with a spacecraft. (I noted this may have been another cosmic nod to the play’s title) Hazel’s older daughter Leanne was also there, portrayed with just the right amount of teenage attitude by Amy Goedecke. Aunt Carol, (Jo Briant) arrives, a no-nonsense loveable character full of advice in the form of quick wit. On getting old, she says, “I’d like a bit more of the middle part” and speaks with the wisdom of a woman who has lived a colourful life. Briant was a standout scene stealer, particularly as she got more inebriated at the wedding and danced – the audience loved her!

During the wedding day, things start to become messy as Sylvia’s family reveal their racism and suspicion towards Marek. Hazel’s husband John (James Smithers) is unemployed and a kind offer by self-employed Marek is not received gracefully. An added layer at the table was Sylvia’s father and his estranged brother Peter (Brendan Miles). Tension built due to old resentments from past actions (disagreements during the time of the mining strikes) which billow around them.

Then, the beautiful wedding day descends into total family chaos.

Playwright Beth Steel has successfully written a script which gives a strong voice to all characters in fairly even measures; each have their own depth and inner struggles. The ensemble was cohesive, bringing their own character’s hidden raw emotions to the surface. This drew me into their lives and moved me. Although not an expert on accents, I believe all of the actors’ English East Midlands accents were flawless throughout this performance, kudos for this.

Composer and sound designer Layla Phillips brought the relevant era to the stage with the choice of pop songs and some original moving music throughout the play. Set designer James Smithers created a stage with minimalistic props. The wedding table and setting which appeared to have real food on the actors’ plates, along with the top bars that ran above the table was a highly effective use on the small stage. The intimate KXT Broadway was a good choice to house this play, and the casts’ clever involvement of the audience during one part added that extra bit of immersive sparkle to this production.

I loved Till the Stars Come Down! It is a hard-hitting play which explored many themes and circles back to love, life and ultimately surviving the day. It is a play which will stay with you for a long time – go see it!

Season: March 27 – April 11 2026 at the KXT Theatre Broadway
Run Time: 120 minutes with an interval
www.events.humanitix.com/til-the-stars-come-down

To book tickets to Till the Stars Come Down, please visit https://www.kingsxtheatre.com/till-the-stars-come-down.

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Fair Play

13/03/2026 Catherine McMullen

Fair Play Rating

★★★★★

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“It’s always messy on the line,” beautifully and succinctly captures the direction and essence of the production, “Fair Play”, directed and produced by Emma Whitehead and written by Ella Road. The play interlaces intimate moments on the track between two rivals-to-friends, Ann and Sophie, acted by Rachel Crossan and Elodie Westhoff. Dividing into smaller slice of life scenes, these moments are framed and given pace by a clever synergy of lighting (EJ Zielinski) and sound (Mitchell Brown and Osibi Akerejola) that drops you into the chest of the female runner, the pulsating rhythm throughout serving as a heartbeat, underscoring the fast-paced and electrifying feeling of the professional sports world. The set design is minimalistic, fitted out with monkey bars, and otherwise serves as a pure canvas for choreography (Cassidy McDermott Smith) that has a modern, sleek feeling, athletic and tying skilfully into the movements of the storyline.

Ann and Sophie couldn’t be further from one another in many ways- race, privilege, culture, upbringing. And while the pair are able to bridge this gap, there are other elements at play, issues that Road, handles with nuance and mastery. The chemistry between our two leads is playful, layered, and expressive of a transitional phase of girlhood to womanhood, as they find their footings in a world that seems built almost expressly as a challenge to their foundations, a test to their spirit. For women in running, in sports in general, life is complicated in ways that men’s sports is not. We, as spectators, see a lineup of women, all equal before the whistle is blown. “Fair Play” peels back the veneer and reveals the complications in a way that that tries its very best to be square.

Building momentum from a lighter, breezier first half, the second half delves more deeply into the special circumstances and unique standards to which our women in professional sports are held. “Fair Play” gets to the heart of the matter. When conversations turn to who should be allowed to participate in sport and to what extent, it is much easier to be dismissive of experiences without having heard from them firsthand. Placing us in the conversation, things are immediately more complicated. It is refreshing to see things from only these two characters’ points of view as it fully envelopes and immerses us in their world. While sex and gender are spotlighted, and lines are drawn, a tangled argument is exposed, one that is deeply personal and highly politicised. What is the basis of sex and gender, how we define what is fair, and the sexism in women’s sports is illuminated in new ways without giving answers. The open ending is where the candour of our characters shine; who they are to become, and how the world of women in running will adapt is yet to be decided. They are changed by their experiences, weary in some ways, but with an enduring spirit. Fair Play is well played, intimately drawn, and expansive enough not to feel like you are being told what to think.

To book tickets to Fair Play, please visit https://www.oldfitztheatre.com.au/fair-play.

Photographer: Robert Miniter

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